Marketing Letters

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-022-09655-2

Understanding non‑fungible tokens (NFTs): insights

on consumption practices and a research agenda

Rami Alkhudary1   · Bertrand Belvaux2 · Nathalie Guibert1

Accepted: 25 October 2022

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
2022

Abstract
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have expanded beyond the cryptoart movement into the
digital realm, promising a multibillion-dollar virtual ecosystem. However, market-
ing studies that attempt to explain this phenomenon remain nascent and even scarce.
To fill this void, our research responds to a call for explicit usage of marketing
theories to explain the universe of actions and the unacknowledged conditions that
constitute people’s behaviors when purchasing NFTs. More precisely, this research
applies Holt’s typology of consumption practices and provides useful insights based
on empirical findings into the different ways in which NFT customers consume digi-
tal data. Moreover, we propose a research agenda to drive discussions regarding the
consumption practices of and potential markets for NFTs. Our contribution extends
the usage of information technology and addresses anyone working in marketing
science.

Keywords  Non-fungible tokens · NFTs · Blockchain · Consumption practices

1 Introduction

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are increasingly exciting those in the digital world.
Simple electronic files, which can be viewed for free on the Internet, are sold or
exchanged for hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars. NFTs have cre-
ated a paradigm shift for the creation, authentication, and exchange of digital

* Rami Alkhudary
Rami.alkhudary@u-paris2.fr
Bertrand Belvaux
Bertrand.belvaux@u-bourgogne.fr
Nathalie Guibert
Nathalie.Guibert@u-paris2.fr
1
Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, 12 Place du Panthéon, 75005 Paris, France
2
University of Burgundy, IAE Dijon, 2 Bd Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France

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assets across multiple industries: arts, broadcasting, sports, and technology cryp-
tocurrency companies, to name a few (Wilson et  al., 2022). NFTs have unique
properties as access keys for event tickets and decentralized applications built on
top of public blockchains; additionally, they reduce paper waste, minimize fraud
and tampering, and allow people to exert more control over their data (Murray
et al., 2022).
NFTs can have infinite usage cases in decentralized finance, gaming, music royal-
ties, real-world assets, and logistics. People have spent more than $230 million pur-
chasing and trading digital collectibles of NBA highlights (Young, 2021). Accord-
ingly, Nike recently joined the cryptoart movement, and its patent for forging virtual
sneakers was recently accepted. In their cryptowallets, buyers can now store virtual
sneakers that were minted as NFTs. As with CryptoKitties, owners of Nike’s virtual
sneakers can also produce new series of digital sneakers by crossing older series,
which is a trend called breeding (Andon et al., 2021). On June 5, 2022, Stade Tou-
lousain, the famous French professional rugby club (five-time European champions),
distributed 18,754 free NFTs for the 2021–2022 season as part of its marketing strat-
egy to improve its relationship with fans. Fans who own one of these NFTs have the
opportunity to purchase one of 1907 premium NFTs that provide access to exclusive
products and experiences (Campbell, 2022).
Originally associated with the visual arts, an NFT represents a certificate of
authenticity or ownership that is immutably registered on a public blockchain net-
work as a piece of data managed by a smart contract, a pre-defined code agreement
with clear conditions, to denote a unique digital or physical asset. The cryptoart
movement began with the CryptoPunks collection on Ethereum in 2017, when any-
one has been able to claim ownership of the 10,000 digital images that were algo-
rithmically generated by Larva Labs. CryptoPunk #5822, for example, was claimed
on June 23, 2017, and sold for $23.7 million on February 12, 2022 (Larva Labs,
2022). Furthermore, to mark its 75th anniversary, UNICEF launched the UN’s larg-
est-to-date NFT collection; these data-driven digital tokens were released globally in
late 2021 and early 2022 to support connecting every school worldwide to the Inter-
net (Alhattab, 2021). In another example, the NFT of the original Internet source
code was sold on June 30, 2021, for $5.4 million (Lawler, 2021).
The emergence of public blockchains and virtual currencies (Scheidegger &
Raghubir, 2022; Stourm et  al., 2020) has expanded the potential and spread of
NFTs. Blockchain can be defined as a distributed ledger or decentralized database
of digital assets that are organized chronologically and recorded immutably accord-
ing to a consensus mechanism (Alkhudary et  al., 2020; Gleim & Stevens, 2021).
The blockchain’s operating mechanism can be better explained through the key fea-
tures of Nakamoto’s (2008) model. First, any blockchain network must have a con-
sensus mechanism. Second, the network is theoretically fully decentralized. Third,
digital assets or financial transactions in blockchain are traceable, transparent, and
immutable once recorded, although users remain anonymous on public blockchain
networks. The relationship between NFT pricing and cryptocurrencies may inter-
est marketing managers. Dowling (2022) finds limited volatility transmission effects
between cryptocurrencies and NFTs, which suggests that understanding cryptocur-
rency pricing could be an indicator or aid in understanding the pricing of NFTs.

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The phenomenon of NFTs is not limited to art, digital assets, and collectibles.
For example, Hasan and Starly (2020) developed tokens in a decentralized produc-
tion system that was enabled by smart contracts and based on Ethereum standards to
explain how NFTs can represent production assets in existing public blockchain net-
works. Accordingly, Westerkamp et al. (2020) prototypically explore the possibility
of integrating NFTs, which they refer to as token recipes, into the physical process
of manufacturing new products. This mechanism results in full traceability, as NFTs
are permanently registered. NFTs are another potential solution to secure assets for
patient data in telemedicine, which would allow patients to visit any medical institu-
tion, as their medical history could be stored in their personalized NFTs (Skalidis
et al., 2022). This potential is also presented by Batchu et al. (2022).
Marketing studies on the immediacy of and current interest in NFTs are almost
absent in the literature. However, some marketing scholars have begun to examine
this phenomenon to understand it and improve our knowledge of how this tech-
nology can be utilized to create new markets. For example, Chohan and Paschen
(2021) confirm that NFTs could change marketing functions; their work accordingly
focuses on the marketing implications of this technology. They offer guidance to
marketing managers regarding how to shape NFT functionalities, such as royalties,
distribution, and technical infrastructure, as well as how to persuade new consum-
ers to purchase NFTs. Similarly, Bao and Roubaud (2022) conducted a systematic
literature review regarding NFTs, finding that as of April 2022 only 13 articles have
been published in indexed journals on the Web of Science and ScienceDirect; fur-
thermore, these articles focus mainly on asset pricing.
In their review of the present, past, and future of consumer research, Malter et al.
(2020) highlight that technological changes significantly impact today’s customer
journey due to the major challenges and social trends associated with new technolo-
gies. Therefore, they urge researchers to connect previous research with new obser-
vations to deepen existing knowledge of consumer behavior. However, the current
NFT literature has not explicitly focused on consumption practices (Bao & Rou-
baud, 2022; Colicev, 2022; Dowling, 2022; Murray et al., 2022; Wilson et al., 2022).
Therefore, we employ Holt’s (1995) typology to describe the unacknowledged
conditions and logic underlying NFT buyers’ behavior. Holt’s typology is the result
of a significant synthesis of influential work in interpretive consumer research from
the late 1970s and early 1990s, which includes Belk et  al. (1989), Holbrook and
Hirschman (1982), and McCracken (1986). Furthermore, Holt (1995) provides
a comprehensive framework that reaches beyond materialism as the only style of
consumption. Based on empirical data, our study offers useful insights into peo-
ple’s actions when purchasing NFTs. It also suggests a research agenda that may be
helpful to anyone working in marketing science who wants to better understand this
dynamic phenomenon.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Sect.  2 describes the
method we used to collect and analyze data from 10 NFT projects. Section  3
presents an examination and application of Holt’s (1995) typology of consump-
tion practices, providing useful insights into the universe of actions that consti-
tute human behavior in the NFT space. Section 4 proposes a research agenda to
improve the understanding of NFT buyers’ behaviors and deepen knowledge of

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the different ways in which NFT customers consume these digital tokens to ben-
efit from potential emerging markets. Finally, Sect. 5 concludes this article with
remarks.

2 Methodology

To capture the unacknowledged conditions that constitute human behavior in

the NFT space, we adopted a participant observation approach that focused on
etic understanding (Latour & Woolgar, 2013). Specifically, we adopted a netno-
graphic approach for data collection, similar to that of Richelieu & Korai (2014).
Netnography is a popular research method in qualitative marketing research
that, considering the explosion of the Internet, focuses on online communities
in which people feel comfortable openly expressing their lifestyles, values, and
attitudes (Bartoloni et al., 2022; Sandlin, 2007). This research technique employs
ethnographic methods (Miller, 1998) to study cultures and communities through
technology-enabled communication, particularly with online consumer groups
(Kozinets, 2002).
In this paper, our qualitative analysis of the collected data is based on the
social media platforms (Discord and Twitter) of 10 NFT projects: four were
minted on the Elrond blockchain, and six were minted on Ethereum. Nine of the
10 projects launched their NFT collections at the end of 2021. One of this paper’s
authors examined the NFT projects’ tweets and chats to determine whether the
NFT phenomenon could be understood when Holt’s (1995) typology was applied.
More specifically, we did not focus on identifying new aspects related to NFTs in
specific consumption activities. We met several times to evaluate the coding pro-
cess, ensure data saturation, agree on content classifications, and determine how
best to classify the key phrases in each typology.
NFT communities are publicly accessible because they need to have Discord
and Twitter accounts, which allows high levels of interaction between buyers,
fans, technical teams, and founders. Notably, we did not reveal the objective of
our participation. Our study spanned 5  months, from December 2021 to April
2022, and included purchasing approximately $6000 of NFTs. This action was
necessary to acquire access to some communities’ private channels (which are
available only to NFT owners); to improve our understanding of the NFT space,
its intricacies, and its conventions; and to enable closer access to NFT consumers.
Regarding the measures we employed to ensure that our data collection was
ethical, we first carefully verified that none of the channels we viewed on Dis-
cord contained any warnings regarding privacy or confidentiality. Second, we did
not report key phrases from channels that were only accessible to people who
purchased the project’s NFTs. Third, because obtaining formal consent from
every user on Twitter and Discord would be problematic, we verified that, under
the European General Data Protection Regulation (Article 14(5b)), obtaining
informed consent from data subjects was not required for social media analytics
(Mahoney et al., 2022).

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3 Useful insights into NFTs and their consumption practices

Consumption practices are challenging to untangle without a mature sociocultural

lens to guide interpretation (Holt, 1997). These patterns can be defined as the tacit
and explicit skills and competencies that people consciously or unconsciously utilize
in their everyday consumption activities (Garfinkel, 1991; Holt & Thompson, 2004).
In this section, we attempt to explain the NFT phenomenon in light of Holt’s (1995)
typology of consumption practices, which refines four streams in interpretive con-
sumer research through distinctive metaphors: consuming as experience, consuming
as integration, consuming as classification, and consuming as play. We believe that
this typology has adequate explanatory power to provide useful insights into peo-
ple’s behaviors when they purchase NFTs.
Our findings demonstrate that all four consumption metaphors—consuming as
experience, consuming as integration, consuming as classification, and consuming
as play—can describe, to no small extent, what people do when purchasing NFTs.
The following subsections offer explanations to further clarify the universe in which
NFTs can be utilized.

3.1 Consuming as experience

The consuming-as-an-experience metaphor underscores a group of consumption

practices that highlight consumers’ subjective and emotional reactions to objects
they consume (Holt, 1995). These practices are addressed through both psychologi-
cal and sociological schools of thought. Interpreting object consumption as a psy-
chological phenomenon emphasizes people’s emotional statuses that occur during
consumption (Belk et al., 1989; Celsi et al., 1993), whereas the sociological view of
consumption emphasizes consumers’ wide variety of habits, styles, strategies, and
conventions (Geertz, 2016; Swidler, 1986).
To understand consumer behavior regarding NFTs, we must first identify the
varieties of formal rules, conventions, habits, strategies, and even styles that consti-
tute the NFT space. Accordingly, we must ask whether this virtual world provides
consumers with a shared subjective vision that allows them to understand situations,
roles, actions, and objects. Initially, this seems to be the case. The following extracts
depict the emotional states of NFT buyers:
Nothing makes me happier than seeing [name of collection] trending. [That is]
Only the start. The vibes are unmatched, world domination [will come] soon,
keep killing it.
I bought flowers in the colors of my [name of collection] to declare my love for
you [name of collection] beyond the blockchain. Has a holder ever given you
this? I think not.
Difficult to be in love with a person for the entire life, but less difficult to be in
love with [name of collection].
This project has great potential, but people have to collaborate to increase the
floor price. Please make sure that people understand the holding strategy and

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its importance to increase the floor price. It may be a good idea to open a new
channel to educate people about these techniques.
However, an entire field of research appears when we delve into ways of utiliz-
ing the interpretive frameworks of the consuming-as-experience dimension. Indeed,
one can imagine that in this context, which remains unstandardized—given the high
level of uncertainty and complexity of the interpretation framework in the emerging
virtual world of NFTs—calculating buyers’ efforts is probably important, but it is
difficult to obtain a precise idea without specific studies. Similarly, buyers do not
yet have a history, conventions, or well-established standards for evaluating NFT
projects, and we wonder about consumers’ criteria in justifying their judgments. The
following extracts from NFT buyers capture the interpretive frameworks of the con-
suming-as-experience dimension:
I have been studying [name of collection] for a minute and more so [in] the
past 24 hours. They have the recipe to reach [price prediction of the cryptocur-
rency utilized to buy the NFT].
I have started to investigate [name of collection] after seeing them pop up on
my feed—solid distribution. The roadmap has all the items you expect in pro-
jects nowadays—worth a look into. I own one currently, and I might buy more
as I do more research.
Among all the NFT projects, this whitepaper [sic] is the most detailed, sub-
stantiated, and real-world connected one. I salute this team and invite everyone
to pay attention to what they are doing.
Companies can benefit from NFTs by providing a commercial platform that
encourages supply and demand. For example, they can leverage creative content by
contacting artists who want their work to be featured on the companies’ websites.
Additionally, the NFT experience can be viewed from the demand side by consum-
ing new virtual products as a collector. The collector phenomenon allows the experi-
ence to continue over time.

3.2 Consuming as integration

The consuming-as-integration metaphor relies on research that describes how

consumers acquire and control object meanings, integrate themselves with the object,
and permit themselves to access the consumption object’s symbolic properties (Avison
& Rosenberg, 1981; Belk, 1988). These practices can also be reversed. In other words,
consumers reconstruct their self-concept so that it aligns with the institutional structures
of their consumption objects (Csikszentmihalyi & Bennett, 1971; Curhan et al., 2008;
Miller, 1998; Solomon, 1983; Zerubavel, 1993).
To characterize the consuming-as-integration dimension of NFT consumers, we
must identify the perception of purchasing an NFT as an element of the buyer’s
identity or self-concept. The consuming action intended to facilitate the symbolic
usage of NFTs. We have seen this combination of NFTs and buyers’ personas in this
virtual world. The most telling embodiment of this phenomenon is replacing one’s
profile picture on social media with an NFT, thus allowing oneself to access the

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NFT’s symbolic properties or appearance. These extracts from NFT buyers reflect
this phenomenon:
I am Candy Wigglebottom. I am the more accident-prone brother of the Thug
King. I was arrested for trying to steal a cute pot of paint [describing the NFT
collection and the item bought precisely]. It obviously did not work. I always
have a flower on me to lighten the mood.
Web2 me VS Web3 me [are] close version[s]. Ps, I love [animal name refer-
ring to the NFT bought] in general, but [name of collection] is my favorite.
Ok, guys, I am mostly a [name of collection], but I could not resist becoming a
[name of collection] too.
One may ask about the extent to which the NFT space becomes a way of living and
thinking, contributes to the construction of the consumption object, and influences this
virtual world to assert a particular connection to consumers. Assimilation practices
indicate NFT buyers’ interest in acquiring competence, such as how they learn and
play their roles as owners. Production refers to the NFT buyers’ involvement in
developing this new world. Finally, personalization implies that NFT buyers can alter
institutional elements of the consumer universe through their manipulations. Initially,
since this emerging world is not institutionalized (Scott, 2008), we may think that this
integration method seems irrelevant. However, these reflections from NFT buyers
were unexpected:
The way you guys keep coming out with such great tools in such a professional
manner is amazing. Really excited to be a part of this project.
The wife made this for my wall behind my desk. It’s my favorite [name of
collection] and the first [name of collection] I bought! [The] QR code takes you
to the [name of collection] official page for the [name of collection]!
Here are the individual layers for the trait swap [a feature that allows holders to
change the appearance of their NFTs via an application] of my original tweet. I
hope you enjoy them as much as I did creat[ing] them! Cheers!
The ability to customize NFTs is a simple example of using this phenomenon as
a real-world integration exercise for self-construction. In other words, the owners can
create their online personality by integrating NFTs. Furthermore, this personalization
may enable the owner to believe that they are making a statement for humanity. For
example, fundraising for charities is another way to develop NFTs in this regard while
also offering digital products to new audiences.

3.3 Consuming as classification

The consuming-as-classification metaphor comprises research that refers to

consuming as a process in which consumption objects are viewed as vessels of
cultural and personal meanings that classify their consumers. The classificatory
aspect of consumption is usually condensed in the acquisition and social display of
the object to allow consumers to classify themselves in relation to relevant others
(McCracken, 1986; Mick & Demoss, 1990).

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The classification dimension of purchasing NFTs is deduced from the various

actions of NFT buyers who aim to communicate their affiliation or belonging among
themselves or with other social groups. However, this dimension is challenging to
identify, especially since many NFT collections are already considered classification
vectors for other consumption universes. For example, by creating and exchanging
NFTs related to online games, gamers reinforce their classification (affiliation and
distinction) as gamers. This extract is from an NFT’s game that divides its holders
into three camps:
Since the dawn of humankind, two camps have been fighting in the Gods’
kingdom: the Gods of Light and the Gods of Darkness. The two camps have
been fighting in an eternal world linked to ours for thousands of years. A new
camp was born to balance the two camps, adventurers of all horizons to restore
peace across the universe.
This method of consumption in which the consumption object provides the mean-
ing of the classificatory act is referred to as classifying through objects. However,
there is another consumption method in which object meanings are irrelevant; this
is referred to as classifying through actions, whereby the purpose of consumption is
conveyed to others through participating in convening, mentoring, expressing tastes,
and predicting. In this postmodern society, people allow institutions to manage
social activities, and the institutions benefit, as NFTs finance charitable and social
movements. Therefore, institutions create their own NFTs and sell them, e.g., Adi-
das, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi. The cost of minting an NFT is relatively low (the cost of
designing the NFT varies), which allows for a substantial profit margin, and buyers
are willing to spend more than the intrinsic value of the NFT. The following extract
expresses this idea:
If [name of collection] was able to demonstrate how the project was directly
impacting [charity cause], would not that also be a motivation for holders?
Consider what we saw with Ukraine donations. What portion of those peo-
ple bought that [name of collection]? I guess the main motivation for people
buying that was to have a cool-looking symbol they could use to signal their
support for something more than art speculation. And I think that is my frame-
work for [name of collection].
Classification is another way to create and sell NFTs. For example, by offering
special NFT collections for its fans, a brand can rally highly engaged consumers
who are eager to spread the word. Additionally, offering easily accessible and valu-
able NFTs could attract new consumers.

3.4 Consuming as play

The consuming-as-play metaphor relies on research that describes how people utilize
consumption objects to play or establish a relationship with the aforementioned three
metaphors (Arnould & Price, 1993; Sherry, Jr. 1990). These are practices in which peo-
ple engage directly with the consumption objects or merely utilize them as resources

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to establish a relationship and interact with other consumers (Goffman, 1986; Knoop,
2007; Maynard, 1991).
NFT buyers may seek play for play’s sake; for example, the interaction between
collectors is playful and may be sufficient. NFT buyers can also utilize tokens for
advantages in games or applications. Also, purchasing NFTs would be a matter of
studying the specific socialization processes in Web3 and the metaverse. These
extracts reflect these ideas:
Buying NFTs does not only mean buying cool artworks - but it also means invest-
ing in the metaverse brands and tech companies at an early stage. Awesome ava-
tars are also a great way for communities to recognize each other on the Internet.
An NFT with [special design in the collection] gives guaranteed airdrops/WL
[a strategy that approves a list of potential NFT buyers] spots/better rewards and
access to a private channel on Discord, where ideas can be discussed and pro-
posed to the DAO [an autonomous organization regulated through rules embed-
ded on computer programs]. In total, there are only [number of NFTs of this
type].
Numerous NFTs are collectibles. Therefore, NFT buyers may commune when
they share their experiences with the consumption object with other buyers. NFTs
are relatively highly prized in virtual gaming and beyond; they provide pleasure
through simple research, possession, exchange, or collection in almost all domains.
Furthermore, people utilize NFTs to entertain each other, which is referred to as
socializing. The following extracts capture these ideas:
I came from the future, where we need to charge our batteries, and mine is charg-
ing now. I am the king of my jungle near the beach [giving a hint about the NFT
project]. I like to dress [in] the Hawaii banana shirt. It gives me a fresh and nicer
look. I like lollipops too, but only those with low carbs. I am fit!
I minted two because I was very excited. After minting, I could see the entire
collection, and I preferred other items over the ones I minted. So, I purchased
two more on the secondary market on the first day. Obviously, a huge mistake,
and what an idiot!! Now I own four and cannot sell any without taking a large
loss. Maybe I will die with 4 in my hands. I learn something new every day in the
world of NFT, and I have learned many things from this project.
NFTs can be used in various games as unique avatars. The NFT market could be a
playground for speculators both large and small. Furthermore, the social interactions
around NFTs provide entertainment that companies can use to develop universal and
robust communities.

4 Research agenda

Entering the NFT field requires a thorough technical background. Some people
who are far removed from the digital world—a phenomenon better described by
the term digital divide (Norris & Inglehart, 2013)—cannot easily participate in this

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environment even if they want to do so, either for lack of time or interest or because
they belong to a certain age, ethnic, economic, or cultural group. The same scenario
applies to institutions. Companies, especially small- and medium-sized companies,
may find it difficult to understand and benefit from this new market. Marketing
researchers should examine the barriers that prevent consumers and businesses from
entering the NFT field. Additionally, further research should be conducted to deter-
mine which consumer and business profiles are appropriate for NFTs.
Our proposed research agenda is by no means exhaustive and should be utilized
to drive discussions regarding NFT consumption practices and emerging markets.
Accordingly, Table  1 presents the research questions and opportunities that arise
when Holt’s (1995) typology is applied to NFTs. Furthermore, we formulated poten-
tial future research directions based on existing NFT literature (Table 2).
Our paper encourages further exploration of interpretive approaches to consumer
research in NFT marketing; consequently, it is a fruitful addition to the groundbreak-
ing NFT studies, which are currently being developed but rely almost exclusively on
behavioral economics. Finally, another potential area of marketing science research
for NFTs is to examine how the diffusion of innovations theory (Moore & Benbasat,
1991; Rogers et al., 1969) can be applied to NFTs.

5 Concluding remarks

NFTs are steadily becoming part of a stable multibillion-dollar virtual ecosystem.

They have the potential to attract both consumers and companies with different pro-
files. The prospect of accelerated economic growth—and the associated risks—is
an exciting medium for speculators and companies that aim to have a role in the
metaverse or other parallel virtual worlds.
This paper’s contributions are threefold. First, we propose a specific vocabulary,
which engages Holt’s typology, to describe people’s actions when purchasing NFTs.
We believe that we provide a meaningful analysis of the characteristics that con-
stitute people’s behavior when they enter the NFT space. Second, our study is the
first NFT netnography study designed to allow companies to target different types of
consumers and develop new strategies. Marketing managers can develop new strate-
gies once they understand how Holt’s typology applies to NFTs. For example, they
can create new communities in which consumers commune and socialize or obtain
privileged access to new products or services. Third, we propose a research agenda
that is based on Holt’s typology and the NFT literature and focuses on business and
marketing. We believe that our study presents valuable insights into the field of
NFTs for those involved in marketing science.
Marketing managers should consider the importance of improving the purchas-
ing experience of NFT consumers. Developing a new experience around NFTs must
be an essential part of any marketing strategy that targets people in Web3 or the
metaverse. Strategically designed programs that enhance customer-centric relation-
ships (McAlexander et al., 2002) can provide an edge in the NFT market; further-
more, marketers can cultivate universal communities in ways that attract new cus-
tomers and improve retention of previous patrons. The NFT phenomenon has led to

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Table 1  Summary of research questions regarding NFT consumption based on Holt’s typology

Consumption practices Research questions and opportunities — What do marketing managers

need to know on the business-to-consumer level?
Consuming as experience What emotional reactions arise with the purchase of NFTs? Which habits,
styles, and conventions structure the NFT space? Can NFTs provide buy-
ers with an intersubjectively shared lens through which they can under-
stand, judge, and appreciate consumption objects? Do NFTs provide a
template that orients consumers’ activities, roles, and actions?
Which emotional states can companies provoke in consumers through
NFTs? How can companies utilize these emotions to market their
brands? How can companies benefit from the NFTs’ social world and
consumers’ wide variety of habits, styles, strategies, and conventions to
strengthen their brands and attract new audiences?
Consuming as integration Which NFT elements do buyers integrate with self-concept: the token,
the virtual community or economy, the utility of the NFT collection, the
cause that NFTs serve or support, or the symbolic properties of the NFT?
Do consumers reorient their identity to align with the NFTs’ institutional
structures?
How can companies integrate NFTs into their brands and communities?
How do companies monitor consumers’ participation in the creation of
NFTs? How can companies benefit from NFTs’ institutional structures?
Can NFTs have a role with mass-produced consumption objects?
Consuming as classification How do NFT buyers classify themselves to relevant others (through objects
and actions)? How do NFT creators classify their consumers? How do
consumers utilize NFTs to build affiliation and enhance distinction?
What is the relationship between Web3 or metaverse consumers and
NFTs?
How can companies utilize NFTs to enhance consumers’ ability to com-
municate their affiliation and distinction? What NFT meanings can com-
panies utilize to strengthen their brands and attract new consumers? How
can companies utilize classification through actions in the NFT space?
Consuming as play Do NFT consumers engage directly in the consumption objects or utilize
them as resources to interact with other consumers? What mutually felt
experiences do NFT consumers share with each other? How do NFT
consumers utilize experiential practices to entertain each other?
How can companies utilize NFTs to build new virtual communities and
impact consumers’ experiences with consumption objects? How can
companies utilize NFTs to entertain their consumers? What is the impact
of NFTs as a means of socialization on companies’ brands?

a situation in which customers can lead the brand or company, although consumers’
ability to modify products or build brand communities, if companies allow them to
do so, is not new (Schau et al., 2009). The uniqueness of NFTs is their automated
process through decentralized and autonomous voting as well as smart contract gov-
ernance models. Therefore, we recommend that companies research and explore this
phenomenon while testing virtual products and services as part of their digital strat-
egy when they are prepared to grant more authority to their customers.
The predominant limitation of our study is that we ignore the technical and
legal barriers to the usage of NFTs. For example, smart contracts, which are an
essential element of NFTs, are not compatible with current legal frameworks
in many countries. Moreover, smart contracts significantly increase the cost of

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Table 2  Insights and research questions for the current research work regarding NFTs
Contributions from the literature Research questions and opportunities

Wilson et al. (2022) propose a conceptual map of An analysis of the NFT ecosystem is required when
an NFT-based ecosystem. They offer relational we apply stakeholder theory (normative and
mapping between key stakeholders of NFTs: descriptive). Future studies should employ empiri-
creators, intermediaries (technical and business), cal data to examine the relationships among the
investors, speculators, and consumers NFTs’ stakeholders in the new ecosystem
Murray et al. (2022) describe Web3 as a more Web3 confuses people and companies because this
decentralized online experience of a number of development area is dynamic and changes rapidly.
blockchain-based applications: cryptocurrencies, Further research should examine each of the
NFTs, and the metaverse. The authors seek to Web3 technologies and their potential impact on
relate these emerging technologies to modern modern businesses
businesses
Nguyen (2022) finds that CryptoPunks with light Racial discrimination seems to affect the NFT eco-
or albino skin are traded at significantly higher system; therefore, companies must promote NFTs
prices than those with dark skin. Notably, those ethically. Although NFTs can represent any type
with light or albino skin tones were less rare than of a digital asset, the idea of racial discrimination
the dark-skinned CryptoPunks in their creation should be considered carefully
Chandra (2022) examines NFTs’ entrepreneurial The NFTE concept should be extended and studied
aspects by introducing NFT-enabled entrepre- with entrepreneurial marketing, as NFTs enable
neurship (NFTE). The author proposes a concep- marketers to develop new marketing processes as
tual framework and suggests utilizing NFTs as well as a compelling message to promote products
an alternative form of knowledge production and services
Nakavachara & Saengchote (2022) analyzed more The choice of cryptocurrency or token has been
than 71,000 cryptocurrency transactions and found to influence users’ willingness to pay; how-
demonstrated that users pay 3.4% more in trans- ever, no marketing science research to date has
actions when utilizing the Sandbox token than explicitly examined this relationship or the impact
with the Ethereum token. Thus, they prove that of the NFTs’ minting platform on consumers’
the choice of cryptocurrency or token influences willingness to pay
users’ willingness to pay
Chalmers et al. (2022) present opportunities and Marketing managers should consider the oppor-
threads related to NFTs. For example, many NFT tunities and risks associated with NFTs before
projects are saturated, and some items do not engaging their companies in this volatile market.
achieve secondary sales. This market is highly Future research may suggest new business models
dependent on volatile revenue streams, and most that are appropriate and adaptable to the frenzy of
creators are not generating revenue NFTs and their impact on different industries
Colicev (2022) argues that NFTs can be viewed Empirical studies are needed to determine whether
not only as representations of brand components, NFTs should be considered brand assets as well as
such as the company’s products, logo, or image, whether they can create strong communities. The
but also as potential brand assets to increase market for NFTs is dynamic, and most consumers
brand awareness. Additionally, NFTs can build purchase NFTs for speculative purposes. There-
new communities that support brands and create fore, more research should explore how NFTs
new relationships between brands and consumers contribute to the creation of strong and universal
communities
Some public blockchain networks still utilize the Marketing researchers should also investigate the
proof-of-work consensus. For example, transac- negative impact of NFTs, as they could have
tions on the Bitcoin network cause C­ O2 emis- a non-negligible effect on the environment.
sions, which experts predict will be responsible Furthermore, researchers should educate sellers
for approximately 19,000 future deaths (Truby in selecting the appropriate blockchain network to
et al., 2022) create NFTs

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public blockchains and NFTs. Finally, although the goal of our work is not pri-
marily to promote the usage of NFTs, we overlook the risks associated with NFTs
because most of the literature examines the positive impacts of blockchain and its
applications (Alkhudary et al., 2022). Marketing managers must recall these limi-
tations when reading our paper.

Declarations 
Ethical approval  We confirm that this work is original. It is not under consideration elsewhere, nor has it
been published before.

Conflict of interest  The authors declare no competing interests.

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